I have a Nokia 701, also have an N8 running Belle. My experience with 701 has been positive.
1. The speed increase over N8 is noticeable. The only time device slows down is during installation of programs.
2. Battery life is about two days of moderate use with two push email accounts running in the background.
3. The design and the feel in the hand is great too. I agree with Rafe's sentiment that Nokia has certainly put a lot of thought into the design. There are many small nice things about the 701 which are difficult to appreciate just looking over specs.
4. The EdoF camera is a hit-or-miss indoors, but outdoors photos usually turn out decent in good light. The camera does seem snappier than the N8 camera in taking shots, and is "idiot-proof". Before using EdoF, I was skeptical of Steve's articles but now I see he was absolutely spot-on about pros and cons of EdoF.
Btw is there any app/setting to to go to camera app directly from lock screen? With the fast camera on the 701 that will be very useful.
The pros and cons of Nokia Belle compared to Android are well known to posters here, so I wont repeat them.
I agrre and say that 701 is the best device from Nokia ever considering the price tag.
AAS wrote about this application, quickcam which let you start the camera when phone is locked.